Don't Turn Away
by Kimiko Heroux
Summary: Amu is stood up at a restaurant by a blind date. But as it turns out, one of the waiters that works at the restaurant is Kukai, who decides to spend his evening entertaining her with his endless antics. Kukamu one-shot.


**A/N: My very first Shugo Chara fic! I decided to start with a one-shot, just to see if I could do this, and yes, after working on this particular one-shot since July (and mostly forgetting about it), I have finally completed it! Inspiration came from watching a lot of Kukamu AMVs, namely ones with the songs The Perfect Scene by Mercy Mercedes (where the title of this comes from), and Check Yes Juliet by We The Kings.**

**I'm such a huge fan of Kukamu, so this is the result. As I just stated, it's my first SC fic, so this being true, I would love some feedback about how well (or not so well) I portrayed Kukai and Amu. I tried to make them as accurate as I could, but there's always room for improvement on my part.**

**Anyway, in this one-shot, they're a little older, as stated in this, in high school. I also slightly changed things; I don't recall ever learning how close Amu and Kukai live, but in this, they live what's perceived as a ways apart, farther than one would prefer walking. Also, in the beginning, the Japanese word 'Irasshaimase' is said. It's how waiters greet the customers entering a restaurant in Japan, and since that's where they live, I wanted to keep it traditional. I would've done a English translation, but there's no distinct word-for-word translation; it's just how they greet them.**

**Those notes aside, I hope you enjoy this! R&R please! :3**

* * *

><p>Don't Turn Away<p>

Hinamori Amu rested her chin on the palm of one hand, swirling a pink strand of hair that escaped from her delicate bun with the index finger of the opposite hand. Her honey-colored eyes stared hard at the door, her emotions flaring up higher and higher with each passing minute. Her gaze would flicker onto face after face as they entered the restaurant, but none fit the description that was given her those couple of days ago. She frowned, telling herself to remember not to agree to any more blind dates. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time she had been ditched by some random guy she'd never met. The frequency of this occurring was increasing, and so was her anger. It seemed like her love life was steadily going downhill. But then again, she did always have issues when it came to guys.

She groaned in irritation and checked her cell phone to pass the time that seemed to be going at half-pace. She hadn't been there but a few minutes, yet she had even been running late, as just to get to the designated restaurant she had to ride the train for four stops, and her mystery date still wasn't there. She originally assumed that he was even gonna beat her there, though it was clear that that theory was down the drain. She'd be lucky if she ever heard about that guy ever again.

"Hmph. Jerk," she scoffed to herself, shoving her phone back into her bag. _Might as well leave before it gets too late…_ she decided, putting her bag over her shoulder and flipping the escaped hair out of her eyes. She'd dressed up for this guy. Hair up in a neat bun, held by countless bobby pins that took forever to put in, a hint of make-up on her face, a heart-shaped necklace settled nicely on her chest, and one of her best dresses to top it off. It was a rather simple strawberry red dress with thin straps and came down to about her knees. A thick black belt around her waist completed it. She wore heels, one of her worse choices. She hated heels, and they were making her blisters get blisters.

As she was about to stand up to leave, the waiter walked over. He began to greet her, "_Irasshaimase! _I—eh? Oi, Hinamori!"

Amu did a double-take. Wait, she knew that voice, and there was only one person that addressed her with that slang sort of manner. _It can't be...could it?_ "K-Kukai?" Her face emitted a bright red glow when her eyes set upon the boy one year senior to her with the naturally-messy ginger hair and the bright, emerald green eyes. "You work here?" Her gaze locked onto the waiter uniform he was wearing. She always did have a bit of a uniform fetish…

Laughing at the pink-haired girl's reaction, he took this as an opportunity for a break and plopped himself down on the vacant seat across from her. He proceeded to loosen his tie then undo a few of the buttons on his shirt that were currently choking him and then slouched in the chair casually. "Gotta pay the bills, Hinamori!" he retorted jokingly, giving her that renowned toothy grin that gave him so many obsessive fangirls ever since elementary school, adding with it a simple signature wink. He then threw his arms back behind his head, leaning on the back legs of the chair, and transfixing his eyes with a little more curiosity on the girl before him. "So, why you here?"

She scowled and turned her eyes down onto the box in the middle of the table that held the chopsticks. Her hands went down to her lap and gripped the bottom hem of her dress. Should she tell him? She stole a split-second glance at him. _He's in such a good mood…Not like that's anything new, but I don't wanna kill it by making him feel sorry for me…_ "I'll never let anyone set me up for a blind date ever again," she stated as-a-matter-of-factly with an exhale, planting her face into the table with a hollow-sounding thud before continuing her complaining in an illegible mumble.

His mouth formed an O-shape, blinking a few times in confusion. This was the first time that smooth-talking Souma Kukai truly didn't know how to respond. So, instead of going into thought about a reply, he waved his hand with his palm outward and called out, "Oi, Watanabe!" The waiter that he voiced to turned around at the sound of his family name and gave him a hard, puzzled glance, which he returned with a cheesy smile. "Fetch me two desserts!"

He then averted his attention back to Amu, who perked up at the sound of Kukai ordering desserts. She hadn't really noticed the hunger eating away at her until she totally took into account what the sports jock had called out for. She watched with wide eyes as an annoyed Watanabe gave him two plates of matcha chocolate balls and proceeded to pop them into his mouth one by one with a grin plastered onto his face. She wiped her mouth to be sure she wasn't drooling; she loved matcha. He was taunting her. And doing a very good job, too.

He held one in between two of his fingers. "Hehe. Hungry, Hinamori?" He brought it closer to his lips, one eye not leaving Amu who had her eyes glued to the chocolate ball that seemed to be going in slow motion towards his slightly ajar mouth. The last…one.

Amu's voice came out as a little, pathetic squeak, feeling her stomach leap as soon as the question came from the boy's mouth. Now there better not be any strings attached to such an inquiry. "Yes. Can I have it?" _Why am I so nervous? It's only dessert._

He pressed a finger to his cheek and gazed up at the ceiling, as if he was pondering and thinking of a good response. While waiting for his reply, Amu's head ran wild, _Hey, he's actually pretty cute when he makes that face…Wait. Why am I thinking of him like that? This is Kukai! This isn't right! Gaaah!_ And then the jock's smug retort came, "How do I put this in a simple way…?" He shoved it in his mouth whole, beaming the entire time. "Oh. Heh. I guess that works."

Amu's eyes narrowed into a glare. "You idiot!"

Her leg shot outward, hitting one of the front legs of Kukai's chair (which he was still leaning back on) and knocking him over backwards onto the floor. He let out a high, "Oww…" and she jumped to her feet, her hands over her mouth. Her eyes were darting in every direction; people were staring intently, some people at her to see if she'd do anything, the rest on him in case he didn't get back up. From across the room at another table one guy laughed.

"Kukai!" She ran over to his form that was sprawled out on the floor, stuttering out frantically, her face heating up like she decided it'd be an excellent idea to stick it into an already well-heated oven, "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!"

His eyes stuck fast to her face. At first he glowered at her in annoyance, but suddenly, his expression changed to a light, crooked smirk. He began to laugh. "Hahaha! Good one, Hinamori! You don't need a Character Change to kick well! That was dead accurate!" _That's so Kukai. He doesn't even care that I just felled him and everyone is looking? _She awkwardly smiled as he continued, changing the subject, "Now you mind helpin' me up here?"

Amu's outer character took over and she crossed her arms defiantly. She turned her head away fiercely and scoffed with eyelids concealing her shiny golden-colored eyes, "You had that coming to you. You can get up yourself."

"There's that stubborn personality again." He picked himself off of the ground, put his chair back onto its four legs in its original place, and sat down once again. That same ridiculous leer smacked onto his face; there was just no getting rid of it. Amu could never really comprehend what exactly propelled this boy to be always cheerful. No matter what happened, he had always been the most optimistic, energetic, and untamed of all of her friends, making her constantly wonder how much sugar he takes in every day.

She suddenly got self-conscious by the fact she was standing there, still with that insolent pose struck. So she was quick to scoot back to her seat and place herself back down. But still taking into account Kukai's last statement, she furrowed her eyebrows at him. But oddly enough, she found herself unable to keep a stare at his face, so she resorted to setting her gaze upon the little stud in his right ear. It wasn't like she never noticed his pierced ears, no, it was quite the opposite. They were actually the first thing she noticed about him. She found them sort of strange at first, but after a while of knowing him, those little studs became a feature of his as noteworthy as his crazy hair or his stunning eyes. In fact, she couldn't recall a time that he didn't have them in.

This suddenly made her a bit curious. Resting her elbows on the table, she pointed lightly with one finger. Her mulish expression faded and was replaced with a slightly vexed one as she questioned, "So, Kukai, exactly when did you get your ears pierced?"

The jock made a face of mixed emotions. First came a hint of confusion, then overtaken by suspicion, and then suddenly he broke into a little, wry smile. "It took you long enough to finally ask. You're the only one I haven't told this story to. How long have we known each other?" He laughed to himself. "Well, you know my brothers." He paused to look at Amu's expression change to a somewhat exasperated look at the remembrance of all the times she had a weird moment with Kukai's older brothers. "There was point in my life—a few summers back, actually—that I felt like the unloved youngest child. And—"

Amu instantly cut him off at this statement. "You? Really? Why?" This threw her for a big loop, knowing that Kukai normally had his share of attention from just about everyone. He had no enemies, and definitely no hard feelings against anyone. To think that at one time he felt like he was the one that got the _least_ attention and love really made the pink-haired girl doubt that she had even heard him correctly, or maybe she misunderstood just what he had been implying.

He got this really stern look on his face, his mouth a flat line. "It was because…" He took a pause, then his voice changed quickly to that normal Kukai tone, "I honestly don't remember!" And then began to laugh some more, causing Amu to almost fall out of her chair in surprise. Then he was quick to change back to his serious tone, his laughter tapering down. "But all I know is that I was horribly jealous. Everything I did was a plea for attention. My sport matches became increasingly more competitive; last place was no place to me. My athleticism was my attempt to get reputation. My life was a popularity contest where I competed with anyone and everyone."

He watched Amu's eyes grow wider and more enveloped as he spoke; her intrigue reminded him of a little kid being read a fairytale. He put his cheek into his palm, his eyes shifting up towards the ceiling when he chose his words. "So, one thing sorta led to another, and eventually my whole style changes. I wanted something drastic, something _disobedient_."

The way his tongue rolled off the word made Amu's cheeks flare. As a teenage girl, her mind could only go to so many places with such a tone. "So you…?" She found herself unable to finish, the thoughts that she should've been deeply ashamed of still clouding her head and obstructing her maturity and ability to create proper sentences. There was something in his voice, something deeper in his words, something—…something.

He released that cheeky grin again. "Yep." He laughed out loud a sort of laugh that made him show all his perfect, white teeth. "My family was seriously ticked when I came home that day. But they said that at least I didn't just get the gay ear done." He clicked his tongue and let out a long, loud sigh, scratching his cheek with his index finger. "Yeeap, gotta let the ladies know I'm good for business." The way he spoke sounded as though he thought he was talking to a guy.

The pink-haired girl blushed all the harder at the last remark and shuffled her feet under her uncomfortably. "Well, I really don't know how to respond to that, Kukai…" She stole another quick glance at him; he was watching her and making her feel increasingly self-conscious. She batted her golden eyes quickly away.

His next inquiry came literally out of nowhere. "Do you wanna go?"

Amu's head jerked right up. "Do I what?"

The ginger-haired teen rose to his feet and pushed his chair back in. "No one'll care if I leave. And even if they do, I didn't like this uniform anyway." He tugged at his collar and laughed in that ever-so Kukai manner. "So you in, Hinamori?"

She pursed her lips together as she thought. _What was he suggesting? Is he just being a friend or—?_ Her whole body felt like it leapt under her skin. _No, that can't be right. This is Kukai. Souma. Kukai. He's never shown signs of liking me before…_ Several occasions came to mind as soon as that sentence did. _No, that can't be right. I'm getting paranoid from thinking about this. He doesn't like me; I don't like him. Er… _She made a face as soon as she realized that wasn't completely true. _Well, maybe…_ She smiled suddenly. "You bet."

He smiled equally back. "Okay, then let's go hit the town then!" He grabbed her wrist and was pulling her along behind him out of the restaurant before she even realized what was going on. The faster he went, the more she stumbled over her heels. After a while he looked back to see what was making her so slow, and made a weird expression that didn't approve of something, while retorting, "Hinamori, what kind of shoes are those? Definitely not the kind to run in!"

"Well, it wasn't really my choice to be running!" she responded back, losing bobby pins from her hair like there was no tomorrow and eventually making it fall down completely. She heard a snap and it immediately became even harder to run. "Aw, crap! Now I just broke one of my heels! Thanks a lot, _Kukai_!" She pulled away and went back for the lost heel, pulling off the broken shoe, compared the two pieces to see if they were fixable. And, of course, they weren't.

Kukai frowned, throwing his hands on his hips and looking down at the shoe. "Oi, Hinamori, I think you need better shoes."

Amu narrowed her eyes and scowled with slightly-inflated cheeks at his no-duh statement, scoffing out like taking a short breath, "Idiot." She pulled off the one good shoe and looked at both shoes. The sidewalk was pretty cool, but she tried her best to ignore it. The shuffling back and forth from foot to foot was involuntary to keep from freezing off her toes. "Why were we running anyway?" She cocked her head to the side and gave her senior a look that tried to dig into his head.

Again for just about the millionth time that night, he laughed. "Oh, you know that song—?" He stopped abruptly, his eyes going down her body to her feet moving back and forth like a little dance. "You cold?" His eyes went back up her face, his mouth open slightly. He had left his blazer at home, since it would've been too warm in the restaurant for that part of his uniform.

She smiled cheesily at his question, blushing slightly that he had been watching her body movements so closely to notice when she was chilled, especially her toes. "Well, uh, not really—" She was forced to stop mid-sentence of her denial.

He picked her right off the ground, and holding her bridal style, questioned with a wink, "That better, Hinamori?"

Amu couldn't breathe. Her face turned a deep crimson, trying to tell herself this was just a big fat dream and she'll wake up any second and it'll all be over and she'll still be Hinamori Amu and he'll still be Souma Kukai and they'll be friends and…and…and… and honestly she couldn't deny it: She didn't want this to be a dream. She wanted this to be reality; she wanted this all to be taking place just how it was exactly…Well, one of those matcha chocolate balls would've been nice.

Her eyes scanned his face. His bright green eyes, his tan skin, his amber hair, his little stud earrings. She couldn't see any sign that this was some sort of prank to make her squeal like a little lovesick schoolgirl and then find a way to completely humiliate her because of it; his face held complete innocence. "K-Kukai…" She then felt like she was _too_ touched by this and shot her head away, closing her eyes in defiance. "Well, don't complain later that I'm too heavy for your _scrawny_ little body to carry!"

The brown-haired teen laughed at her remark; he knew she was overly-pleased, but just didn't want to admit to him that he was hypnotizing her like a snake charmer. At the rate he was at with laughing that night, he must've been adding entire days onto his life. "There's just no pleasing you, is there?"

_Unbutton that shirt a little more and I'll be perfectly content…Wait. What the heck was that? I can't believe this is happening! Why did I just think that?_ She wanted to pull her hair out. She knew that in elementary school, she had the biggest crush on him, but that was then. She was a little kid and he was one of her closest friends. They were in high school, they drifted apart a little bit, and now for some dumb reason happened to meet on a random night at an equally random restaurant. This meant _nothing_. _But if that's the case, if this is really "nothing"…_ She took in the warmth of his body for a moment, _then why is _this_ happening? And why is he flirting obsessively? And more importantly, why am I flirting _back_? _

Deciding that the silence was getting her only increasingly more fuddled, she then questioned, "So what were you saying before? Something about a song?"

He grinned, looking down at her with a sense of accomplishment plastered onto his face, hardly watching where he was going. "Check Yes Juliet." His expression changed a little, to something Amu couldn't really put her finger on. "I had a dream a little while back. And in it, that song was playing. _Lace up your shoes; here's how we do. Run, baby, run. Don't ever look back. They'll tear us apart if you give them the chance. _And it was you and me. It was like we were in a music video." He noticed the pink-haired girl's face read something like 'you're nuts'. "Heh, I guess I just wanted to know what it felt like."

Amu frowned and again turned away, her face lit up like a light. "Well, you coulda said something before taking off running!" Despite her tone, really she was confused beyond belief, trying to put all of these sides of Kukai together in her head like a big puzzle. She knew that song he mentioned well. It was obviously a love song, she knew that from all the lyrics she could recall. So then what did this mean? Was he falling for her as she had been for him in elementary school? Did he just feel like he should tell her? Or was this all a big joke of his to make her flustered?

Unfortunately for her, the last of those seemed the most likely.

Apparently Kukai expected her to say something more afterwards, so a long silence ensued as he turned back to watch where he was walking, just in case he accidentally let her bash her head against a pole or something, which with her luck would've happened had that opportunity been presented. This time allowed the rosy-haired girl to study his…himness. She could feel not just his warmth through his uniform, but also a very well-defined, muscular chest. His athleticism made the chances of him having any extra body fat diminish completely, leaving a no less than perfectly-sculpted form. And honestly, that's not all that made him a total babe magnet. His face was absolutely flawless, none of those skin problems teens always encounter, and it always held this tan year-round that never faded to the pastiness most other guys had in the winter months. Ever since girls had the ability to see and set their eyes upon him, they acted like he was a god.

And Amu had to confess to herself that she agreed with them. In the streetlights, his eyes shimmered and added a soft-looking texture to his cheeks and his—

She stopped herself before her fantasies clouded her head. As a love-struck elementary schoolgirl, she had thought about countless guys, inventing scenarios in her head of romance with each one. But every time the Souma boy entered these daydreams she thought about his lips, looking like they were made of velvet, softer than how she imagined any of her other daydream boys. And even as the remembrance of her preteen days entered her mind while looking uncontrollably at his lips, her breath began to choke her. Hormones ran wild through her body, so much that it felt like little bubbles were popping all over her skin, causing this tingling sensation. She involuntarily twitched.

He noticed her weird, random spasm and looked down at her in curiosity. She was bundled tight into herself, her knees knocked together, her arms pulled tight against each other bent at the elbow to go vertically up her chest, and her whole body was rigid. Her current position gave her a rather childish appearance, even more so with that innocently-embarrassed, wide-eyed expression she was giving him. "Oi, got Tourette's or something?"

She gave him a glare, her mouth going into a pout that increased that immature appearance she was presenting. "No, I don't have _Tourette's_!" She spat out the word as if it was the dumbest thing she had ever heard, for a second concerned if she had actually shot saliva at him, which increased her body temperature significantly. At this point, if he decided to crack an egg on her head, it would cook.

"Someone's a little defensive." He gave a quick, smooth wink at her, one corner of his mouth pulled upwards in his original, cocky manner. But then his face straightened up quickly so it would go with his next sentence. "Oh, and say it, not spray it."

Instantly, her eyes narrowed, trying to prevent the blush on her face from affecting her response. "Shut up." She suddenly became aware of the sliding sound of shoes treading through grass and then looked around. Verdant trees dotted the area, of which she quickly gathered was a quaint little park, light poles illuminating a paved path a ways off and all of the park benches. There only sounds were of the wind flowing through the leaves and the traffic on the road nearby. "Kukai, why are we here?"

The green-eyed teen didn't answer for what felt like a long while, walking until the sounds of the city that surrounded them had diminished. He placed the girl down on a bench and sat down next to her before giving his response, keeping his gaze off her and on the scenery that consumed them, "This is where I always go after work." His voice lacked all his normal humor, gaining in exchange a hint of sentiment. "A place to think before heading home." He leaned back, slouching a bit, and stretched his arms up on the back on the bench with a deep sigh. His eyes transfixed on a hole in the layer of leaves and branches above that revealed a dark sky spotted by little twinkling stars.

Amu tilted her head slightly to look at him out of the corner of her eye. She had thought she knew him, she thought she had him all figured out, but then something like this happened. It made her question her skills of observation. And his complexity. His head was like a maze to her, so many different corridors and halls, and when she thought she had something, she reached an impasse and was forced to turn around and try something else.

He caught her looking at him, and she shot her head away with her heartbeat in her ears. He opened his mouth slightly, studying how the hair that once was up in a bun lied on her shoulder and down her back. It wasn't apparent that she cared about how she was presenting herself, as he never saw her even once touch the places where bobby pins used to be secured. He watched as her golden-hued eyes trailed back over, looked for a split-second, and darted back off to the distance. So quickly had she become so shy in front of him, causing him to wonder just what was running through her mind this time.

Glancing down at his dress shoes, he began to dig a groove in the dirt with his toe. He flexed his fingers which were being nipped by the coolness of the night. "So, who was the one to set you up with a mystery guy this time?" he retorted suddenly with a half-snort.

The pink-haired girl jumped slightly at the question, as if she had forgotten he was sitting right beside her. She locked eyes with the teen and brought her fingers up to her upper arms, rubbing up and down slightly to remove the chill. "Oh, that would be the work of Yaya," she responded, giving a small laugh. "She always thinks things like this are a good idea. Most of the guys she sets me up with are nothing like how she says they are." She let out a second, more awkward chuckle. The wind blew around her figure and she hunched her shoulders, her fingers curling tight around her arms as she continued, "I try to make an effort to like all of them, but…" Trying to think of a way to complete her sentence, she trailed off.

In response, Kukai huffed in amusement. He turned his head straight forward, with his grassy eyes scanning the park before him. "Sometimes you can't look for love; you have to let it find you, and sometimes it's different than what we expected. But it's always better."

A long silence proceeded as Amu merely stared at the gingery-haired boy with wide eyes and an ajar mouth.

"Haha! I knew that'd freak you out!" he blurted. "I've been waiting all day to say something to get a look like that!" He took a mental picture of her expression, laughing in mockery.

She frowned, furrowing her brows. "Gah, jerk!" She pounced on him and knocked them both to the ground. She fell on top of him awkwardly, her whole body instantly flaming, with her face unbearably close to his and lying chest to chest. She could only gaze in bewilderment, like a deer caught in the headlights. Her breath was stifled, and she was unable to breathe properly, a normal 'in…out…in…out' seeming so impossible at this moment. But breathing was the last thing she wanted to do.

Kukai blinked a few times. "Uh…Hinamori?"

She returned the expression, except with a lot more terror in the mix. "Uhh…" She found herself frozen, petrified with complete fear and embarrassment taking hold of her body. She knew she should want to move, she should get off of him ASAP to avoid more awkwardness than was already setting in, that scenario her head wanted, but there was a tug on her from her heart that made her want to just lay there, staring at him like some love-struck moron trying to take a photograph of his every feature.

Actually, that tug was more like a yank. It was like a rope around her neck, that either she complied and went along with its demands or be choked and suffocated by it.

Moments passed of weighing her choices, and she then decided, _Gah, yeah, stupid head's right._ and proceeded to pull herself back up, jumping with a significant amount of velocity while giving out a much-needed, "Sorry, Kukai, sorry, sorry!" She put her hands together like she was going to pray and lurched her shoulders upward, bringing her nose close to her thumbs. Now that she was up and being caught under the radar by his driving eyes, all of her emotions were running to catch up with all of the events that just played through, leaving her lost for words other than a crazy apology.

He pulled himself up, the corner of his lips raised after recovering from what just took place. "You crazy woman."

* * *

><p>So many things were said on the way to the train station. Everything from work and the weather to things pondered up in secrecy. Amu never knew so much about the boy one year senior; there were countless things that he withheld from saying, and the more he opened up about himself, the more she did about herself. She normally was under-spoken and kept things to herself, even after receiving her Charas, but this was just so <em>easy<em>. Why it was so, she had no idea, but it was.

Maybe it was because he was so accepting. He knew full well everyone had their own flaws and was entitled to their own opinions, so no matter what she had said, he understood and despite if whatever it was was rather melancholy, he found a way to make her get past that part of it and smile.

So when getting onto the train, she found herself practically attached by the hip to him as they both were laughing and drawing attention to themselves by stumbling around like drunken idiots. They sat down in seats and after the train had left the station, the golden-eyed girl admitted with a bashful beaming on her face, "You know, Kukai, I had a really awesome time, probably better than the times I've had with any of the guys Yaya's set me up with."

Kukai eyed her with a pouty face, asking in a manner to make her question her decision, "_Probably_?" He brought his face close to hers and stared hard with that look made.

She giggled awkwardly in a girlish way, placing her hand over his face and pushing it away lightly, darting her gaze in the opposite direction while reddening out of the lack of distance that had been between their lips. Her voice sounded somewhat stable, which was a rather surprising thing. "Yes. Probably. Gotta problem with that, _Souma_?"

"Maybe I do." The ginger-haired teen poked her sternum with his index finger accusingly, ignoring the loudspeaker that announced the first stop and people brushing by to get off. His finger traced down and proceeded to stab her in the belly, causing a little 'guh!' sound to squeak from her mouth. "There's more where that came from, Toots. Admit I'm the best, 'cause you know I am." His face clearly wrote off the words, 'I'm better than any mystery dude Yaya knows. I'm sexy, and I know it.'

He kept on poking her for minutes on end, causing with each jab a little, deranged sound effect and involuntary spasm to escape from her body time after time, leading him to question with his smug, toothy grin, "Are you _sure_ you don't have Tourette's?"

Amu pursed her lips, making her cheeks puff up slightly, and gave him a hard glare that almost made him laugh out loud. It was just so unfitting on her face. "Yes, I'm _sure_ I don't have Tourette's! All I have is an annoying little allergic reaction!"

His mouth turned into an O, trying to figure out where she was going. "What're you allergic to?"

"You poking me!" She started slapping him all over, shooing his hand back over to where it belonged. She noticed him smiling despite the pain she was attempting to inflict, so with that observation, holding back a smile became infinity times harder. It was just so difficult to be stone-faced when he wasn't; his optimism was contagious. "Let's see how _you_ like it!" She leaned over, prodding him in rapid fire anywhere her finger could make contact, beginning to laugh so hard tears formed in her eyes when it became a fierce battle between her index finger and his.

Eventually, as the announcement for the second stop was made, they had to stop their combat because Amu couldn't breathe from oxygen deprivation. Her face was flushed, her hair mangled even more so than it had been before getting on the train. It was no longer a bun; rather, aside from this one lock of hair that flopped in a weird loop shape, it was all down to rest on her shoulders. The majority of her bobby pins were as good as gone, and she didn't feel like taming the rat's nest dwelling on her head. She figured Kukai didn't care, as he didn't once look at the rosy-colored mess from what she saw. And of course, _his_ hair was still neatly arranged, not a strand out of place in its unruly style that it was always kept in. Typical.

"Well, I'd say that was time well-spent," the emerald-eyed jock concluded eying the girl who was still catching her breath, her head resting up against his shoulder without her total realization. She looked like she was gonna fall asl—oh wait, she just did.

He didn't really know how to react to this. She just zonked out without warning, the events of the day tuckering her out like a big lead weight on her shoulders. Her cheek snuggled up against his sleeve as if it was a nice, warm pillow as he just watched her looking at peace, nothing like the crazy girl that was sparring against him just minutes before. A stray hair fell down and ticked her nose, making her face scrunch up a bit to look as though she was about to sneeze, so with his opposite arm, reached over and pushed the hair away.

His eyes went over her form. Her face was a shade of pink, her hands were placed one on her lap, the other on his leg, and her legs were crossed down at her upper ankles. Her feet were still bare, her toes painted a soothing shade of light blue like a robin's egg. He wasn't gonna mention that they didn't necessarily match the red dress she had on or the shoes she had previously ditched in a park garbage can, as he knew she'd probably get flustered that he noticed she had nail polish on and then try to cover up her discomfort with some snappy retort aimed to insult him. It amused him how she attempted to conceal up what she clearly felt with defensiveness and how it constantly failed time after time.

A smile formed on his face, nothing cocky or smug, just a pleasant, contented curve of his lips. He found himself gazing at her expression for minutes on end. Her mouth was slightly ajar and moved up and down a hardly unnoticeable amount, like she was mouthing words she was saying in a dream. Her head moved a bit, readjusting it against him, her fingers curling around his pant leg and holding to it tightly as if it was giving her some sort of comfort like a child's blanket.

He paid no mind when another stop was made, the only thing catching his attention being the looks he got from some of the people getting off to leave the train car. Some of them looked at him like he was nothing short of nuts for letting his pink-haired friend sleep on a public train, others casting him delicate smiles like they find the sight of them on a certain level of cuteness, and still others giving him a look that clearly said, 'You DAWG!'

After people got on or off as needed and the train had started moving again, his eyes scanned around the car they were in. He didn't understand exactly how Amu could sleep in a place like this, as it was rather loud and it smelled of all sorts of things that he really didn't wanna figure out the identity of. His vision turned downward, causing him to notice that there were some pretty spiffy sunglasses on the floor looking lonely and abandoned. He knew he looked good in sunglasses, but as he leaned forward to pick them up, he had temporarily forgotten of the girl's current placement, so she slid forward, awakening at the feeling of her head getting sort of stuck in between the small gap between his lower back just due north of his butt and the seat.

Instantly conscious, her face pressed up against his back, she whined with muffled notes, "_Kuuukai_! You idiot!" Her average body temperature rose about five degrees. At least.

Grasping the shades and examining them in his hands, he retorted back, "Oops," but still slid forward somewhat so she had enough room to get back up into a sitting position. He looked at her, seeing her fuming expression that was trying to kill him currently with sharp daggers.

She sat up and frowned, crossing her arms tight to herself. The strawberry hue had made a comeback and she refused to look at him to show a pathetic, little girl anger. "Jerk," she grumbled. Then she noticed the sunglasses he was busy turning around in his hands. "Where did you get _those_?" Her voice held a tone of confusion and she managed to retain annoyance by trying hard enough.

He grinned as his answer came out simply, "The floor." He held them over to her. "Want 'em?"

"No, I do not _want_ them." Her nose pinched. Her sunny-colored eyes automatically showed a small hint of gratitude for him asking, however. It made her feel fluffy inside that he was trying to give her something—despite that they were picked up off the floor of a train. But she had to admit, they weren't too shabby-looking, yet they'd look better on him than her, hands down. She knew that he looked better than her, no matter how many clothes he wore (or didn't wear).

Shrugging, he complied with a substantial amount of conceit. "Suit yourself."

They sat in a strained silence for a while. Amu knew he was aware she was watching him, but that didn't stop her this time. Things just kept returning to her, visions of everything that had happened that night. She hadn't planned any of this. She expected her mystery guy to be a disappointment, as the majority of the prior had been, to leave the restaurant with more or less of a feeling that said time was wasted, go home on the train alone, and then straight to bed. The thought of the ginger-haired boy making a debut never came to her, but the reality left her severely pleased.

Why was this? She had to present herself the question directly. Deep down, she knew the answer, but she wanted to be able to admit it to herself directly. That was always a difficulty she had; she made that flaw of being dishonest with herself and her own emotions. She'd come far, but still, something like this was still plagued with that handicap. _Well_, she decided with the biting of her lower lip, _it will be no more that I have this problem. I'll tell myself the truth right off the bat now._ She mentally sighed, trying to prepare herself for impact. _Truth is… truth is…is… I… I…_

She threw her face into her palms and groaned loudly, ignoring all the sounds going on all around her. At this point, she felt like she was sucked up in this abyss of self-pity, feeling rather pathetic. Why couldn't she do this?

Feeling a light hand on her shoulder, she turned met Kukai's gaze with hers as he questioned, getting up, "This is your stop; you might wanna think about getting off." He cocked his head to the side ever-so precisely, his hair tossing like dark gold wheat in the wind. "So c'mon, let's go."

He took her hand and they walked off into the station, bustling with life, despite the hour. Amu was thankful she was almost home, and even more grateful that Kukai was there, providing company that she really wanted from him. Even not being able to admit deeper things, she was satisfied that at least that could be said to herself. It gave her this sense of potential hope. Maybe she'd get there eventually. Maybe she could say what needed to be said. Maybe.

But then suddenly, not far from the train, which was beginning to depart, she stopped abruptly, facing the youngest Souma with an alert face. "Wait." Her eyes flashed back towards the train, then instantly back to him. Her memory and sense of location instantly failed her. "You don't live around here. Where is your stop?"

A toothy grin, providing reassurance. An arm thrown around her shoulders, pulling her tight against him. "Three stops back."


End file.
